Fire Emergency Response - News

Northern Minnesota’s International Falls Fire Department (IFFD), together with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, quickly extinguished a dangerous wildfire on the shore of Rainy Lake. On May 18th, amid elevated fire danger conditions and high winds, the fire jumped across open water from Frank Island to Voyageurs National Park on the U.S. mainland, but those responding swiftly extinguished it with help from a new Lake Assault Boats fireboat. Fireboat stationed on rainy lake...

In a brand-new episode of Assembly Point, RIBA past president, Jane Duncan OBE, explores why fire safety must be taken seriously, and what action still needs to be taken to ensure tragic events such as Grenfell are never repeated. Jane is the Chair of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety formed shortly after the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. Its work is based on two key principles: To be visible and transparent in their discussion and outp...

Greater Manchester Fire and rescue service rounds off National Sprinkler Week with new videos promoting the benefits of sprinklers for local businesses. Love 2 Sleep is a major supplier of bedding to hotels, NHS and others based in Salford. There was a fire in their factory at 0215 which activated the sprinkler system; this alerted both the fire and rescue service as well as the business owner. Results of sprinklers Speaking about the fire in this video, the company representative said: &ldqu...

Notting Hill Genesis is looking for fire experts to help with fire safety and compliance across its 66,000 portfolios of homes across London and the southeast. fire safety services Launched on the government’s procurement portal Tenders Direct on 18 May, the Fire Consultants Framework 2021 is made up of five lots that cover a range of fire safety services related to the design, construction, refurbishment, maintenance, and management of housing stock. The housing association has allocat...

A court in Preston fined the former owner of the Plaza Beach Hotel in Blackpool £15,000 for multiple breaches of the Fire Safety Order that saw it treated as an unofficial HMO. Findings Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service first visited the hotel in September 2017 and prohibited its use after finding: Several members of staff sleeping in the basement with inadequate fire detection, Fire separation throughout the hotel was inadequate, Fire doors would not close, Combustible materials...

The Hardstaff Barriers team is excited to be attending a major events exhibition– the first event the company has attended in person in over a year. The company’s hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) and event security experts will be available to offer advice at the Event Production Show at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, Hampshire, on May 26 and 27, 2021. Safety awareness Hardstaff will be showcasing HVM products, which are EN 1317, IWA 14-1, PAS68 an...

A good pair of high-tech socks, in a quality wool blend, is the first line of defense for dry, comfortable, and, most importantly, blister-free feet. High-tech wool blend socks can be a big improvement over cotton socks. As each foot is covered with nearly 250,000 sweat glands, the feet can be one of the sweatiest parts of the body and can produce up to 7 oz of perspiration per day with exertion. A good sock will wick away excess perspiration, keeping the feet dryer. And if the feet are dr...

With the COVID outbreak making business travel and exhibitions almost impossible over the last 15 months, it was great to see the productts on show at Fire Australia. Whilst scaled down from previous editions of the show, Fire Australia 2021 still featured a comprehensive conference programme which ran alongside the exhibition. The Australian partners, FlameStop, were among the 80 companies exhibiting and took the opportunity to promote products from the Solo and Testifire ranges. Rob Glover,...

Dr. Alexander Charlish is the first Fraunhofer scientist to be awarded the prestigious IEEE Radar Research Prize. He is the first Fraunhofer researcher and the second German ever to receive the prestigious IEEE Fred Nathanson Memorial Radar Award. Dr. Alexander Charlish, a scientist and team pioneer at Fraunhofer FKIE, received the international award for his outstanding work in the field of radar resource management and cognitive radar. Since 1985, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics E...

West Midlands Fire Service starts a 12-month trial of aerial drones to provide valuable footage to help with responding to fires and for fire investigations. The drones will be used to take video footage and high-resolution still images above incidents. Drones Drones can provide improve situational awareness for those in charge of incidents, helping decision-making and operational response. The six drones that WMFS will be using over the next year are M2ED drones that have a 30-minute flight...

Essex Fire Chief pledges £70,000 to the local council to ensure most vulnerable benefit from sprinklers as part of match funding approach to dealing with fire risk across the county. sprinklers Seven housing estates in the Felmores area of Basildon will be retrofitted with sprinklers. Previously, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service provided £50,000 to Basildon Council to fit sprinklers in a high-rise residential block. This announcement coincides with the NFCC’s National Sp...

Saab’s fourth aerial firefighting aircraft has touched down at Skavsta Airport, its home base, near Nyköping in Sweden. Saab operated two aircraft in the summer of 2020 and participated in five firefighting missions. In January 2021, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) customer exercised a contractual option to extend the fleet to four AT-802F Fire Boss aerial firefighting aircraft. “For the last few months we have been busy procuring aircraft and extending the organiz...

The discussion covered a wide range of topics all linked to multi-sensor detectors and featured a panel of experts including our own Paul Gatens. With the development and installation of multi-sensors continuing to grow, our training and support teams are experiencing an increasing number of enquiries about how these devices should be tested.  As well as covering this point, the roundtable also provided an opportunity to discuss the importance of false alarm reduction, certification, and t...

With the RTE AX B16, Rosenbauer is bringing a new, greatly improved battery fan onto the market. The main difference to the previous device (FANERGY B16) is that the new fan is equipped with higher quality and more powerful battery. But the ergonomics of the device have also been improved, as has the operation and design, while the tried and tested all-in-one airflow technology has been retained and the central water mist unit has been retained. Fan and battery technology combine to form an eff...

On October 26, 2019, a worker and his wife were both fatally injured due to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) exposure at a waterflood station in Odessa, Texas—one of six fatal H2S accidents in the United States in the last two years. On May 4, 2021, the US Chemical and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) published its final report of the incident with guidance on how future incidents can be prevented with appropriate safety measures. This blog post describes what happened, why H2S safety is a critical...

Following a decision of its Board, Euralarm has welcomed its newest member Viking, a dependable partner in fire protection with almost 100 years of experience. The company will join the Extinguishing Section of Euralarm. The Extinguishing Section represents the active fire extinguishing sector and covers existing, new, and emerging technologies, covering automatic extinguishing systems using gas, water, foam, powder and aerosols, oxygen reduction systems, portable equipment, and other manual me...

Fire departments and public safety advocates across North America are uniting May 16-22, 2021 to participate in a digital campaign and conduct community outreach activities to increase awareness about how dangerous home fires can be and the benefits of home fire sprinklers. Home Fire Sprinkler Week is co-hosted by the Fire Sprinkler Initiative project of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC). Universal Challenge Whether urban or rural, la...

More than 4.5 million U.S. properties are at a high-to-extreme risk of wildfire, with more than two million of those in California alone, according to estimates from Verisk, a foremost global data analytics provider. To help promote the importance of building resilient communities for property insurers and their customers, the National Fire Protection Association is providing Verisk with robust data on communities engaging in wildfire mitigation efforts. Verisk will leverage the data from the N...

Certain rules (standards, ordinances, and laws) apply to the placement of products on the EU market. If there is a CE mark on a product, the customer knows that the applicable rules of play are being met by this product. Where Can I Find The CE Mark On A Nozzle? Unfortunately, nowhere: O-stream firefighting nozzles do not fall under any of the directives or regulations relevant for CE marking. This is why there are no CE markings to be found on these products. There is, however, a European sta...

Fire organizations have come together for the first time to create a Core Code of Ethics based on the Nolan Principles that puts supporting communities first. The National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners have jointly published a Core Code of Ethics that sits alongside a new Fire Standard. This is in response to one of the recommendations made by Sir Tom Winsor in his State of Fire and Rescue reports. The Fire Minister, Lo...

Coatings manufacturer Hempel launched Hempafire Pro 400, a new passive fire protection coating that maintains the stability of steel structures in the event of a fire for up to 120 minutes and has been optimized for maximum efficiency in the loadings for a 90-minute duration. Passive fire protection coatings Passive fire protection (PFP) coatings insulate steel during a fire, which extends the steel’s load-bearing capacity and gives valuable extra time for evacuation and emer...

For property owners looking to further protect their home or business or for anyone with an intruder alarm system, one of the easiest and quickest things that they can do is to upgrade the existing system. They may decide to upgrade the system by replacing the old system completely or by adding different elements to the existing system, in order to update it. The need to upgrade the security system There are many reasons why someone may want to upgrade their current fire or security system. F...

Miller Knight would like to announce the appointment of Nicola Blue as the new Systems Manager. Before joining them, Nic worked as an IT Helpdesk Manager at J Tomlinson Limited where she would supervise their teams and assist with implementing new IT initiatives. In her new role at Miller Knight, she will be responsible for developing the systems and processes and ensuring they are implemented across the wider business as they continue to grow. This will not only ensure the high levels of quali...

Portsmouth City Council is investing £9.5 million over the next five years in retrofitting sprinklers in high-rise blocks as part of a £22 million package of fire safety measures. The announcement comes at the start of the NFCC’s Sprinkler Safety Week and is supported by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service working in partnership with the city. retrofit program The retrofit program was due to start but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The council carr...

Manchester Fire Chief sets out priorities for the next four years with a pledge to improve and regulate the built environment, in order to protect people, property, and the economy. This is the first Fire Plan for Greater Manchester since responsibility for the fire and rescue service moved to the Mayor, Andy Burnham. The Plan addresses the impact of major incidents such as the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 and the 2019 Cube fire in Bolton. Fire Plan Commenting on the launch of the Plan, Ch...

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is supporting the National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC) National Sprinkler Week campaign. Running from 17th - 23rd May, the campaign raises awareness of the benefits of sprinkler systems in keeping people and buildings safe from fire. Fire sprinklers Fire sprinklers are widely recognized as the single most effective method for fighting the spread of fires in their early stages. Research by the National Fire Chief’s Council and the Nat...

My Honeywell Buildings University is now live! The single location for all training support.  One can browse a global catalog of training modules once in the portal, access on-demand training, and self-help videos, register for instructor-led sessions, and review training history.My Honeywell Buildings University currently supports 20 Honeywell brands and offers more than 700 hours of on-demand content, includes more than 200 instructor-led courses, and is accessible for the partners...

Mayflex has become a strategic partner to Zitko Talent: the new industry training initiative designed to fast-track entry-level field engineers into Fire & Security. The 12-month program offers trainees paid employment from day one, combined with around 300 hours of certified product training and theoretical study towards a level 3 industry qualification. The product training is tailored to the trainee’s workplace. Full range of courses Zitko Talent and working with fellow partners...

A fire sprinkler is the most reliable and active protection method that fights the spread of fire in its initial stages. A fire sprinkler eliminates fire and prevents extreme damage to both people and property. As stated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA): In the proximity of fire sprinklers, the probability of being at death’s door decreases by one-half to three-fourths, and the average property loss per fire is cut by one-half to 66%, compared to fire accidents that take...

The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) held its 2021 annual meeting virtually on May 10, 2021. More than 85 Metro chiefs attended the meeting and elected the Association’s 2021-2022 officers and board members. The officers are: Chief Don Lombardi, President; West Metro Fire Protection District, Lakewood, Colo. Chief Robert Rocha, Vice Pres...